I took my M6 scout to the range yesterday and really gave it a workout. It's quite the gun, however, as could be expected, it's got some limitations.

I fired from a bench rest, at 25, 50 and 100 yards, using a wide range of ammunition.

First, I'll talk about the .410 chambering.
To dispell any myths, yes, you can shoot an M6 with some level of accuracy at 100 yards with a .410 slug. That said, it's unlikely I'd be able to actually kill anything larger than a goat with a shot at 100 yards, given the realtively low muzzle velocity and limited impact power of the .410. Also, the drop of the .410 is pretty severe, I found myself with a "rainbow trajectory" to get on the paper at 100 yards.

On the other hand, at 50 yards, the .410 slug in the M6 was just great. (where I live the .410 is legal for deer hunting!) Not the best groupings, but half of that was me, as I didn't have a bench rest or anything, just a table and a firm grip. But at 50 yards, the .410 slug was consistently where it needed to be.
At 25 yards, the slug seemed a little silly, but I was able to really get a nice consistent grouping and it has quite a wallop at that distance.

For .410 shot, I used #6 shot and did some patterning. Basically, you have a gun good to 40-50 yards, at best, and I found it to have nice tight patterns, consistent and reliable. I also shot a few clays with the #6 shot, getting a sight picture was quick and easy. The amount of shot it fairly small (this is a .410 we're talking about here) so it might not be the best for anything far out or up.

Now for the .22.

Unfortunately, the .22 side of the M6 was basically useless at 100 yards. even though I know that some of the error was me, the overall grouping was not what I'd hope, on the order of 6 to 8" at best - this was with CCI stinger and Mini-Mag loads. At 50 yards, things were better. I had some particularly good results with CCI velocitors, a very fast round that is very flat. The peep sight is easy to use, and fairly accurate, however, if you were to use the M6 in a survival situation, it would be best used in the under 50 yard range, regardless of load selected.

At 50 yards, I was able to get a killing shot in on rabbit sized targets consistently, however, for squirells, it was a bit harder.

Still, the M6 is a cool little gun, and while I prefer something like my ancient lever-action winchester 94 in 30-30, or semi-auto Ruger or Marlin it's not a bad gun for the money. And the guys at the range though it was very cool.

Next test will be with the Beretta CX-4, which I hope to pick up in the next week or two. This is a 9mm Carbine, with very cool styling and some great reports.

Martin,

Thanks for the report. Have you ever gone deer hunting with the .410?

Martinfocazio:

I am a fan of high velocity hollow point .22's myself. I use hyper velocity 32 grain hollow point .22's which are a few hundred feet per second faster than high velocity hollow points in my little Jennings J22 shirt pocket pistol because with such a short barrel, I need all the power I can get. My J22 is the only one I know of that feeds so reliably that I purchased 2 extra clips for it and am able to fire off 18 shots as fast as I can reload without jamming.

Having said all the above, my Government model Ruger, and my Mossberg light target rifle (Yes, Mossberg used to make rifles back when I was a kid.) eat solid bullet standard velocity and target velocity .22's. This is not because they can't handle all manner of .22's, but because the lower velocity .22's are more accurate, and if you can afford the target quality .22 bullets, it gets even better. If accuracy is paramount in your out back needs, buy the target quality .22's as you will not be shooting that many and sight your rifle for them, and you can buy bricks of high velocity .22's cheap for less serious needs. I believe you will be pleasantly suprised at the improved groupings. Strangely, Eley makes some of the best target .22 ammunition and I believe it is a British firm; go figure!

I don't know what the M6 makers say about it, but you can shoot Colt long .45's in a 410 bore. They may not shoot well in a smooth bore, but it is a nice occasional option. You might also want to look and see if a barrel liner is available for other rifle cartridges that could be used with the M6.

Good luck!

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Bountyhunter wrote: I don't know what the M6 makers say about it, but you can shoot Colt long .45's in a 410 bore. They may not shoot well in a smooth bore, but it is a nice occasional option.

Have YOU actually done this? In an actual .410 barrel as opposed to a .45/.410 barrel? Even if a .45 Colt cartridge would fit in a .410 chamber I would be leery of sending a .452 slug down a .410 bore (not to mention the choke).
gino

I've not used the .410 for hunting any mammals, but I did use it with some #6 shot to shoot a recaltraint guinea hen out of a tree on butchering day. I know some guys who have gone deer hunting with a .410, they say if you are in close, it's effective, but sometimes needs a follow-on shot or two. I don't care for that.
I strive for one shot, one kill. I don't trophy hunt, I belive in eating what you kill. For that reason, I tend to use a heavy, hard hitting, fast-dropping load where I can. Around here it's all slug hunting anyway, so the 12 guage slug is king, and with good reason. Away from here, where it's legal, I tend to favor 30-06, 30-30, 7mm Magnum, and 308 for Deer. Like I said, my Winchester model 94 30-30, with it's iron sghts and top-ejecting bolt action, which was my grandfathers, has probobly been used to take more deer in the last 80 years than any gun in this county. It's still, by far, my favorite gun, anthough the Remington 700 is quickly catching up.

Gino:

The statement is based on Winchesters Mdl. 94 410 which has been touted by some gun testing magazine as being capable of firing a Colt 45 long cartridge. The Winchester is full bore and I do not know the exact dimensions of either cartridge or shotshell. I do not have any first hand experience doing so.


FOLLOWUP:
Did a quick search on the web and came up with a .454 diameter for a Colt 45 long, and .410 diameter for the 410. I could very well have remembered incorrectly and the article may have in fact said a 41 caliber cartridge, or the articles writer may have accidently written 45 caliber when they meant 41.

Thanks for speaking up Gino, I would have hated to face Martinfocazio's wife if he had hurt himself listening to me.

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Bountyhunter--

See Chris Kavanaugh's disclaimer post.

NO! NO! NO! No one should attempt to fire a .45 Colt round in a firearm chambered for a .410 bore shotgun round!!! On the slim chance that it might be possible, you're asking for serious trouble.

I don't know what's been said in any gun-zine, but I wouldn't trust any claim in a magazine article unless it was verified and approved in writing by the manufacturer.

I think the confusion is from the capability of the Thompson/Center Contender handgun (& its successors). The Contender family of guns is the only one of which I'm aware that is designed to fire both a centerfire handgun round or a shotgun round from the same barrel.

The T/C Contender is a break-open single shot handgun with interchangeable barrels, permitting multiple calibers to be used (one at a time) on the same frame. The Contender has a .45 Colt/.410 barrel as an option. It is a .45 caliber rifled barrel, with a screw-on straight rifled "choke" tube to stop the spin of the shot charge as it leaves the muzzle.

The barrel is a true .45 caliber, and will permit the slightly smaller .410 shell to chamber. Again, note that the T/C barrel is a ".45/410", not a ".410/.45" . Trying to stuff a .45 into a .410 is a recipe for disaster.

See Chris Kavanaugh's disclaimer post.

The sub-caliber barrel liner, however, is a great idea, if one can be found.

Did I mention, see Chris Kavanaugh's disclaimer post?
David

I believe that the .41 mag is a much more powerfull round than the .45 colt and would produce greater pressure, it would be a really bad idea to fire it from a .410 shotgun.

Ditto on the .41 Mag!

It's usually described as being about 10% less everything than the .44 Mag. That holds true in my experience.

Stuffing a .41 Mag round in a .410 chamber is simply putting a grenade under your cheek when you squeeze the trigger.

Don't do that, either!

David

The only other instance I've seen of the .45LC and .410 being used interchangeably is the Thunder 5 revolver.

Thunder Five Website And Picture <----- Clickable Link

Panz